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Impasse declared in UVM contract talks

Free Press Staff
Published 3:07 p.m. ET Sept. 2, 2014

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The University of Vermont’s faculty union, United Academics, staged a kick-off rally for contract negotiations covering its full time unit in January on the steps of Bailey/Howe Library.
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Contract talks between the University of Vermont full-time faculty and the administration have reached impasse, both sides have announced.

Efforts to reach agreement through mediation were unsuccessful. Negotiations now enter a fact-finding phase.

Among the key unresolved differences are salary increases and employes’ share of health care plan payments, according to the union. A statement from the administration said that UVM’s tenure track faculty is paid at 100.3 percent of a national average as reflected in a national survey, and that the administration believes “it is important that UVM remain competitive in terms of employee compensation, including increased salaries for Fiscal Year 2015.”

United Academics represents about 680 full-time faculty. Negotiations for the full-time unit’s last contract also went through an impasse phase, as did contract talks for the part-time unit’s most recent contract.

Members of United Academics, the faculty union, continue to work under terms of the last contract, which expired June 30.

Last month, UVM and the Teamsters union, representing police services employees, agreed on a two-year contract, with annual raises of 2 percent and 2.5 percent. The administration has announced that non-unionized employees would be eligible for raises in Fiscal Year 2015 from a salary pool that is 2 percent larger than last year.

Negotiations are also underway with United Electrical Local 267, representing about 350 service workers. That union’s last contract also expired June 30. The administration’s statement said bargaining continues “on a constructive basis” with United Electrical.